Heretofore prior art workers have used edible food acids, preferably those of the water-soluble variety, such as citric and malic to prepare beverage mixes which will have flavor, coloring and, in some instances, sweeteners such as sugars. Such mixes will commonly be packaged under moderately controlled, low-relative-humidity, ambient room temperature conditions whereby the mix as packaged will be free flowing and respond to variations in the flow properties thereof without undue changes in the physical properties.
However, in the manufacture of such acid-based beverage products, eccentricities do arise and the art does find it useful to apply flow conditioners such as tricalcium phosphates, silicates and the like. Silicates present an insolubility limitation and tricalcium phosphate at high levels introduces a turbidity and insolubles to the preparation which is less preferred when one is striving for a clear reconstituted beverage. Furthermore, by reason of its chemical structure, tricalcium phosphate (TCP) requires a higher level of food acid for a comparable tartness associated with food flavoring and thus adds expense to the beverage mix.
Additional problems are encountered due to the limitations of commercial equipment used to formulate and package powdered mixes based upon hygroscopic ingredients such as citric acid. Normally, a degree of powder will be released to the air and settle on the floor, stairways, railings and equipment. Even with moderate humidity control, the hygroscopic powder tend to pick up moisture during periods of excessive humidity and create undesirable and, in some cases, potentially dangerous, working conditions. Moreover, during these periods of high humidity, the hygroscopic dry ingredients can disrupt the operation of blending equipment such as a v-blender of the type manufactured by Patterson-Kelly. These blenders include a high rpm intensifier bar powered by a shaft projecting into the interior of the blender through a packing. Freezing of the shaft in the packing is sometimes caused due to the hygroscopic ingredients during periods of excessive humidity.
Prior workers have recognized that monocalcium phosphate can be employed for its flavor impact on certain foods and beverages. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,514,973, Robinson employed a high P.sub.2 O.sub.5 content monocalcium phosphate composition as a partial replacement of fruit acids in beverages. Also, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,851,361, Diller discloses monocalcium phosphate, at a level of less than about 0.5 grams per quart, as a partial acid replacement in carbonated beverages. And, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,213, Tidridge et al. discloses the use of monocalcium phosphate with H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 and H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 to replace 1/3 to 1/2 of the food acid in beverages and desserts. It was not recognized, however, that a composition comprising monocalcium phosphate containing above 4% dicalcium phosphate by weight thereof would condition the flow of citric acid based beverage mixes so as to provide a free-flowing and controllably-packageably dry mix.